Spiking-bar



(No Model.)

,, R. G. WARD. I SPIKING BAR.

Patented Apr. 20. 1897.-

RANDOLPH G. WVARD, OF SUMMERVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA.

SPIKING-BAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 580,998, dated April 20, 1897.

Application filed April 2, 1896. $erial No. 585,904. (No model.)

To LtZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RANDOLPH G. WARD, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Summerville, in the county of Berkeley, in the State of South Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spiking-Bars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a new and improved spiking bar or implement to be used for holding a railroad-tie firmly against the base of a railroad-rail while spiking the rail to the tie.

Heretofore it has been customary in spiking rails to ties to place a pry-pole or crowbar under the sleeper and rest it on a suitable support, such as a stone or block of wood, and press down the outer end, so as to pry the sleeper up against the rail-base by means of its shorter inner end. A support is not always at hand, or it is crushed or pressed into the yielding soil by the great pressure exerted, and also frequently the pry-pole slips when the heavy blows are delivered on the spike. Furthermore,in case the bed is washed out it is difficult and often impossible to find a proper support or fulcrum for the pry-pole.

The object of my invention is to provide a new and improved implement which can be rested on the rail as a fulcrum and which engages the bottom of the tie and presses the top of the tie firmly against the base of the rail.

The invention consists of a bar having a shoulder or offsetthat can rest 011 the rail and a prong extending downward from said shoulder to pass under the tie and press the same upward when the outer end of said bar is forced downward, thereby holding the tie snugly against the rail-base until the rail has been properly spiked.

The invention also consists in the construction of parts and details, as will be fully described and set forth hereinafter and finally pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification and in which like letters of reference indicate like parts in all to be used. Fig. 2 is a front view of the lower end of a spiking-bar, showing how it is to be used. Fig. 3 shows a modified construction of the lower end of the spiking-bar.

.A cast-steel or drop-forged fork A has its two prongs a flared from each other and slightly curved, so that the fork can straddle a railroad-rail B, the shoulder b at the upper ends of the prongs or tines resting on the head of the rail. The prongs or tines a are at a slight angle to the shank or stem cl of the fork, and the lower ends of the shanks are curved upward slightly or similarly shaped to form upwardly-extending claws e. The shoulder 19 is rounded, so as to adapt it to work freely on the rail-head. The upper end of the stem d is inserted in and welded to the lower end of a tube or bar 0, which serves as a handle for the fork.

In place of providing the fork with two tines or prongs a a single tine may be provided, as shown in Fig. 3. The tines may have extensions to the outside, as shown in Fig. 3 in dotted lines, to form a tamping-head f, or a tamping-head 9 may be formed on the upper end of the bar or tube 0, as shown in Fig. 1.

To spike a rail, two spiking-bars are used,

as shown in Fig. 1, one at each side of the tie D, and are placed on the rail B in such a manner that the rounded shoulders I) rest on the rail-head and the claws e engage the under side of the sleeper. lVhen the upper ends of the handle tubes or bars 0 are pressed downward, the shoulders brook on the railhead and press the tie D firmly against the rail-base, and while thus held the spikes F are driven into the tie. The rail thus forms the fulcrum or support for the spiking-bar, and the entire pressure exerted is utilized for holding the rail and tie snugly and firmly in contact.

As no support on the ground is needed, this implement is of most excellent service for spiking rails on washouts, soft or imperfect beds, and the like.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A spiking-bar for holding railroad ties against the rails while spiking them, consisting of a bar provided with a lateral shoulder,

a prong extending downward from said shoulenee of two witnesses this 28th day of Januder, said shoulder and prong being rigidly ary, 1806.

connected with the bar and an upwardly-ex- T t T tending claw on the free end of said prong, RALDOLPH 5 substantially as herein shown and described. \Vitnesses:

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as F. F. CAPERS,

my invention I have signed my name, in pres- E. \V. BOTTNI. 

